Lacuna
by alocasiareversa
Summary: Lacuna: an unfilled space or interval; a gap. Soira feels inherently misunderstood and alone in a village full of people. Sure, she has her friendly acquaintances but she truly longs for a lifelong friend and partner. Will she be able to find that in the man that she consistently notices at the local lake? Shino/OC


The longest day of the year happened to be dreadfully hot and humid in Konoha. Soira didn't mind the heat but the humidity got to her quite early that day, plastering her hair to her neck and her skirt stuck to her thighs every time she sat down at the restaurant. She was pleased that her shift today was short, seeing as the restaurant was closing early for the Summer Festival, but had to grind her teeth together as she dealt with the crowds of people as she made her way back to her apartment.

With the temperatures so high outside, the air inside her apartment was near stifling. Choosing to take a quick shower to wash the sweat off her body, she quickly dressed in a light yellow, flowy dress and weaved her still-wet hair into a long braid. In smooth motions she heaved the strap of her bag over her head to lay against her shoulder, slid into her sandals, and closed the door behind her, squinting into the daylight.

The festivities today meant that people were out in full force despite the weather. She did her best to keep her head down as she maneuvered around groups of people. Her name was shouted at one point and she picked her head up to look around in the crowd, waving quickly for good measure with a smile on her face before ducking down again, holding tightly to her bag. Soon enough she managed to break through the crowd and step onto a gently used path into the forest, immediately feeling her nerves calm as the chattering made way for chirping of birds and insects.

Soira continued along the trail, having to kick rocks out of her sandals all along the way. Quickly the smell of moss and musty water filled her nostrils. A lake, relatively large, came into view through a clearing. The water was murky, but people still swam in it. Two docks stretched into the water, small benches lining one side and ended in an 'L' shape for storage of fishing supplies. The trail continued along around the lake, following a hand-built bridge over the river that feeds into the lake and continues further off into the forest. This was Soira's stop for today.

She found this lake, this clearing, weeks ago and felt overwhelmingly at peace during every visit that she has begun to make it a routine to come and sit regularly. The area itself was quite sparse today, more so than normal, likely due to the festivities happening in the village, which meant it was considerably quieter here as well. An odd couple with a young child splashed in the water on the shore together, and a single woman sat on a bench on the dock, and a man sat on the edge between the sand and dirt, focusing on something intently.

Soira has seen this man – and the couple, actually – here many times in the last few weeks. He seems to always be intently looking at something or meandering about with his hands in his pockets just gazing down to the ground or sometimes up into the trees. Sometimes she wants to go and ask what he is up to, what he sees that is so interesting to bring him here for that purely, but since she walks to this place for peace and quiet, she assumes other people do as well and keeps to herself.

Setting her bag on the bench situated under the largest tree in the clearing, she smoothed her dress underneath her as she sat down next to it. As she slipped her feet from her sandals, her eyes absentmindedly wandered over to the man she sees so frequently again. Her toes wiggled into the dirt, enjoying the feeling of the warm earth.

She smiled slightly to herself, truly intrigued with what he found so interesting as to bring it so close to his face. Some people made a mark on her on occasion and it seems that this man did that to her today. Tearing her eyes away from him for just a moment she reaches down to her bag, slightly startled to find an orange butterfly resting on it. She paused, allowing it time to fly away on its own before reaching in to grab the book she has been reading. Her eyes trailed after it as it fluttered into the forest to find its food.

Returning to look forward and placing the book in her lap, she was surprised to see another butterfly having landed on her dress.

"Oh, jeez," she mumbled, freezing in her movements. "I don't have any nectar, guys." This second butterfly rested on her for some time until she shifted a little on the bench before finally taking off gracefully. She watched as it fluttered through the air toward the water.

Her eyes glanced down her body, making sure no other insects have landed on her in her moment of distraction and slowly opened her book, placing her bookmark on top of her bag. She noticed slight movement in her peripheral vision and her eyes instinctively glanced up. The man who was sitting on the ground has risen from his position and stared up into the sky. His head seemed to trail after something as he slowly moved until she felt his gaze meet hers.

She blushed lightly, quickly returning to her book a little embarrassed to have been caught staring. However, she didn't manage to read even one word before she felt a light pressure on her forearm. Eyes darting over, her mouth agape slightly she realized a third butterfly had landed on her.

"The butterflies seem very attracted to you," a smooth voice said gently. Soira's attention was immediately pulled to the voice; the man she met gazes with stood a respectable few feet away from her. An eyebrow rose up in questioning and slight surprise when she realized that she hadn't noticed him make his way over to her.

Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she replied lamely, "It seems that they are." Together they sat in silence for a moment. Her attention returned to the butterfly still resting on her arm. "I've never seen a green butterfly in Konoha before."

Rotating her arm around slightly to be in a more comfortable position, she giggled slightly as it trailed down her arm to rest on the back of her hand. Its wings opened and closed lazily.

The man spoke again, his voice slightly mesmerizing to her. "Green butterflies are quite rare in nature as is. In Konoha, even more so. This one belongs to a species that is currently migrating south for their breeding season. It seems that this one may have taken a wrong turn during its trip and landed here."

"Why are green butterflies so rare?"

"Green is generally not naturally produced in living creatures; what you're seeing is a hairstreak, which isn't a pigment but rather a metallic refraction caused by grooves in the wing scales that only reflect green light.*"

Soira nodded along to his explanation, humming in acknowledgment when he stopped. "Neat," she replied. A smile grew on her lips when she glanced up at him. He towered in height, especially seeing as she was still sitting. "Do you like butterflies?"

"I like all insects."

"Cool," she said. "Most people don't."

He hesitated in replying for just a moment, but said, "I am well aware."

Soira stood, keeping her hand as steady as possible to not disturb the butterfly still resting on her. Even standing he loomed over her in stature, but he did not feel threatening in any way despite having his eyes covered in dark sunglasses.

Gently, she lifted her free hand out. "My name is Soira Iseki," she said, a smile on her face.

The man hesitated for a moment before placing his hand in hers, giving it a soft squeeze. "Shino Aburame." He released her hand quickly, returning it to its pocket.

The light flutter on her hand grabbed her attention as she watched the butterfly take off into the air again. The reflection of its wings brought a slight awe to her as a smile played at her lips, watching it disappear into the forest. Gazing in its direction for an extra moment, she turned her attention back to the stranger, her mouth curved into a smile.

"Its nice to meet you, Shino."

* * *

Yay its posted! I have 8 chapters written as of today and plenty of room for more, but I wanted to get something posted to try and keep me on track to finishing the first draft and begin the editing process. I will try and post an update regularly and will update the number of chapters once I complete the first draft.  
For now, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks!


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